One of the most desirable features for a modern weapon is that the weapon be capable of relatively easy modification in the field to adapt to multiple types of tactical situations/scenarios. One way in which modern weapons system manufacturers provide this flexibility is by producing weapons systems that can accommodate one or more weapon accessories such as, but not limited to: visible and non-visible spectrum LASER pointing devices; visible and non-visible spectrum LASER target illumination/identification devices; visible and non-visible spectrum LASER range finding systems; visible and non-visible spectrum illumination systems; mechanical or “iron” sighting systems; magnified and/or non-magnified optical sights and/or quick target acquisition devices; visible and/or non-visible spectrum user identification devices; maintenance and/or weapons status tracking devices; user/unit identification and/or position identification/monitoring devices; communication and/or command and control devices; and/or any one or more of the numerous other weapons accessories that are currently available, and/or known in the art at the time of filing, and/or are developed after the time of filing.
One conventional way to provide this desired level of weapon flexibility is to provide the capability to attach, remove, and/or change-out, one or more weapon accessories on a given weapon, preferably in the field and without the use of tools. To this end, in order to accommodate one or more weapon accessories, i.e., to provide a mechanism for integrating one or more of these weapon accessories with a given weapon, modern weapons manufacturers often include, or at least ensure their weapons are compatible with, one or more universal/standardized weapon accessory mounting systems, herein also referred to as “weapon accessory mounting systems”. Some examples of well known weapon accessory mounting systems include, but are not limited to, the military standard MIL-STD-1913 AR Picatinny weapon accessory mounting system, herein also referred to as a “Picatinny rail”, and the Weaver weapon accessory mounting system, herein also referred to as a “Weaver rail”.
As discussed in more detail below, typical weapon accessory mounting systems include a weapon accessory mounting system rail body and a weapon accessory mount adaptor. A typical weapon accessory mounting system rail body includes a rail body seating/mounting surface which is designed to conform/couple to a corresponding mounting area of a given weapon such as, but not limited to: the weapon's barrel; a heat shield for the weapon's barrel; a carry handle for the weapon; a pistol, forward, or other, grip on the weapon; a stock for the weapon; or virtually any other surface/fixture of the weapon having a suitable mounting area. In one example, using the rail body seating/mounting surface, the weapon accessory mounting system rail body is secured to become an integral part of the weapon.
A typical weapon accessory mounting system rail body also includes one or more rail body weapon accessory mounting surfaces, often on a surface of the weapon accessory mounting system rail body opposing, or at an another angle from, the rail body seating/mounting surface. Typically each rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, in turn, has located thereon, or therein, a plurality of rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars, often of a generally T-shaped cross-section, extending perpendicular to the weapon accessory rail body's length that form, and are interspersed with, flat “recoil channels” or “recoil grooves”. The rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars are often provided with visual location indicia (e.g. marks, numbers, or letters) and therefore provide a reference point so that specific locations along the rail body may be reliably located. In some instances, these reference points are used to allow a user to attach a given weapon accessory to the same location on the weapon each time the weapon accessory is attached.
As noted above, typical weapon accessory mounting systems include a weapon accessory mounting system rail body and a weapon accessory mount adaptor. Typically, a given weapon accessory is attached to at least a portion of the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface using the weapon accessory mount adaptor. The weapon accessory mount adaptor is typically attached to the weapon accessory at one surface, and to at least a portion of the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface at another, typically opposing, surface. Typically, the weapon accessory mount adaptor is itself removably attached to the weapon accessory. In addition, in some instances, the weapon accessory, and/or the weapon accessory mount adaptor, includes a weapon accessory mounting surface capable of providing an attachment point for a second weapon accessory mount adaptor and weapon accessory.
Weapon accessory mount adaptors typically include weapon accessory mount adaptor side rails that mate with one or more edges of the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface and a weapon accessory mount adaptor crossbar that is seated in the between two adjacent rail weapon accessory mounting recoil channel surface crossbars on the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface.
In order to provide truly interchangeable accessories and systems, the physical dimensions of the each weapon accessory mounting system, including the physical dimensions of the weapon accessory mounting system rail body and the weapon accessory mount adaptor, are “standardized” such that for any given weapon accessory mounting system, the dimensions are the same, within defined tolerances.
As an example, for both the Picatinny rail and the Weaver rail systems the width of the rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars should be 0.835 inches (within a tolerance of 0.005 inches for the Picatinny rail). However, the Picatinny rails have a recoil channel width of 0.206 inches (within a tolerance of 0.008 inches) and the spacing between recoil channel centers is 0.394 inches (within a tolerance of 0.008 inches). In contrast, Weaver rails have a recoil channel width of 0.180 inches and are not necessarily consistent in the spacing of recoil channel centers. Because of this, Weaver rail weapon accessory mount adaptors will fit on Picatinny rails, but Picatinny rail weapon accessory mount adaptors will not always fit on Weaver rails.
FIG. 1 shows one example of a currently available weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 that, in this specific example, is a weapon accessory mounting system Picatinny rail body. As seen in FIG. 1, weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 includes weapon accessory mounting system body 103 having rail body seating/mounting surface 105 that attaches weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 to a mounting area of a given weapon (not shown in FIG. 1). In this specific example, weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 is mounted as, and/or replaces, a heat shield surrounding at least a portion of the weapon's barrel.
As seen in FIG. 1, in this example, weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 includes four weapon accessory mounting rails; a top rail (TR), a bottom rail (BR), a right rail (RR), and a left rail (LR). In FIG. 1, only top rail (TR) and left rail (LR) can be seen in their entirety. Consequently, in the following discussion, top rail (TR) and left rail (LR) will be used as the primary examples, however, those of skill in the art will readily recognize that the following discussion applies to bottom rail (BR) and right rail body (RR) as well.
As can also be seen in FIG. 1, in this specific example, top rail (TR) includes top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 and left rail (LR) includes left rail weapon accessory mounting surface 161. As also seen in FIG. 1, in this specific example, top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 includes multiple top rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 107 which extend perpendicular to the length of top rail (TR) and are of a generally “T” shaped cross-section (see FIG. 5). In this example, top rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 107 are separated from each other by a distance DRT such that they form recoil channels “G”. Also shown in FIG. 1 are left edge E1 of top rail (TR) and right edge E2 of top rail (TR).
As also seen in FIG. 1, in this specific example, left rail weapon accessory mounting surface 161 of left rail (LR) includes multiple left rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 109 which extend perpendicular to the length of left rail (LR). In this example left rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 109 are also separated from each other by a distance DRT such that they form recoil channels “G”.
As discussed below, top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 of top rail (TR) and left rail weapon accessory mounting surface 161 of left rail (LR), allow for the attachment of one or more weapon accessory mount adaptors, and associated/attached weapon accessories, (not shown in FIG. 1).
Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 employed as part of a weapon accessory mounting system for mounting a weapon accessory to a weapon accessory mounting system rail body, such as weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 of FIG. 1, is shown.
Referring to FIG. 2, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 includes a weapon accessory mount adaptor body 203 framed by weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205 and weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207. As seen in FIG. 2, weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207 includes a beveled edge forming a groove 209 which is engagable with an edge of a rail body of a weapon accessory mounting system, such as edges E1 and/or E2, of top rail (TR) of weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 of FIG. 1. As seen in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205 also includes a biasing plate recess 216 (FIG. 3) through which a surface of a cam 217 (FIGS. 2 and 3) communicates with a biasing plate 229 (FIG. 3). Cam 217 is, in turn, attached to a cam lever 213 used to rotate cam 217 and thereby bias biasing plate 229.
In many prior art examples, biasing plate 229 is formed as a separate structure from side rail 205 and has a length along biasing plate pivot axis 230 (FIG. 3) that is only a fraction of the length of weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205. In other prior art examples, biasing plate has a length along biasing plate pivot axis 230 that is longer, and, in some cases, is equal to the length of weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205. Typically, biasing plate 229 is free to pivot, in some cases up to 180 degrees, around biasing plate pivot axis 230 (FIG. 3) in either the direction shown by arrow 231 or the direction shown by arrow 233, depending on the bias applied by cam 217 and/or gravity. In typical operation, a surface of cam 217 engages biasing plate 229 in order to selectively pivot biasing plate 229 thereby putting bias on biasing plate 229 against a surface of an edge of a weapon accessory mounting system rail body of a weapon accessory mounting system, such as edges E1 and/or E2 of top rail (TR) of weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 of FIG. 1.
More specifically, referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 together, cam 217 may be operated via cam lever 213 to pivot biasing plate 229 in direction 231 against an edge E1 and/or E2 of top rail (TR) of weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 of FIG. 1 such that biasing plate 229 and groove 209 are forced onto an edge, such as E1 and/or E2, of a rail body, such as rail body top rail (TR) of weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 of FIG. 1, and secure prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 thereon.
As discussed in more detail below, in the prior art, cam 217 is typically designed to be operated via cam lever 213 such that when cam 217 is in a “fully-locked position”, cam lever 213 is rotated to a “past center position” or “over center position”.
As also seen in FIG. 3, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 also typically includes a single weapon accessory mount adaptor crossbar 250 that, as discussed below, is designed to be positioned in a recoil channel between two consecutive rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars of a rail body of a weapon accessory mounting system, such as in recoil channel “G” of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 107 of top rail (TR) of weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 in FIG. 1.
As also seen in FIG. 3, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 includes mounting screw holes 261 and 271 that are used to attach prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to a weapon accessory (not shown in FIG. 3).
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, in order to properly, and securely, attach prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 (FIG. 1), prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 must:
1.) Be positioned so at least a portion of one edge of a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as edge E1 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 in FIG. 1, is in groove 209 and in physical contact with weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207; and
2.) Be positioned so at least a portion of weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205 and/or biasing plate 229 is in physical contact with at least a portion of a second edge of a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as edge E2 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 in FIG. 1, that is typically opposite the first edge; and
3.) Be positioned such that single weapon accessory mount adaptor crossbar 250 is positioned in a recoil channel between two consecutive rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars of the rail body of the weapon accessory mounting system, such as in a recoil channel “G” between two consecutive top rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 107 in FIG. 1.
Once prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 is properly positioned with respect to a desired rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 (FIG. 1), cam lever 213 is operated to engage cam 217 against biasing plate 229 thereby causing biasing plate 229 to rotate in direction 231 around biasing plate pivot axis 230 and against the second edge of the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as edge E2 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 in FIG. 1. In addition, the rotation of biasing plate 229 in direction 231 around biasing plate pivot axis 230 causes the other edge of the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as edge E1 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 in FIG. 1, to be pressed into groove 209 and be in physical contact with weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207, thus, in theory, firmly securing prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 in place on top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 and weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100.
FIG. 4 is a side plan view of prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 of FIG. 2 having a weapon accessory 401 mounted thereon and shown attached to top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 of top rail (TR) of weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 of FIG. 1. As noted above, weapon accessories such as weapon accessory 401 of FIG. 4, can be, but are not limited to, any one or more of: visible and non-visible spectrum LASER pointing devices; visible and non-visible spectrum LASER target illumination/identification devices; visible and non-visible spectrum LASER range finding systems; visible and non-visible spectrum illumination systems; mechanical or “iron” sighting systems; magnified and/or non-magnified optical sights and/or quick target acquisition devices; visible and/or non-visible spectrum user identification devices; maintenance and/or weapons status tracking devices; user/unit identification and/or position identification/monitoring devices; communication and/or command and control devices; and/or any one or more of the numerous other weapons accessories that are currently available and/or known in the art at the time of filing, and/or are developed after the time of filing.
Returning to FIG. 4, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 is shown positioned so at least a portion of edge E1 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 is in groove 209 (not shown in FIG. 4, see FIG. 3) and in physical contact with weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207 (not shown in FIG. 4, see FIG. 3) and positioned so at least a portion of weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205 is in physical contact with at least a portion of edge E2 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 (FIG. 4). In addition, in FIG. 4, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 is positioned such that single weapon accessory mount adaptor crossbar 250 (not shown in FIG. 4, see FIG. 3) is positioned in a recoil channel “G” (not shown in FIG. 4, See FIG. 3) between two consecutive top rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 107.
In addition, in FIG. 4, lever 213 is shown engaged and locking cam 217 against biasing plate 229 (not shown in FIG. 4, see FIG. 3) thereby causing biasing plate 229 to rotate in direction 231 around biasing plate pivot axis 230 (FIG. 3) and against edge E2 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 (FIG. 4). In addition, the rotation of biasing plate 229 to rotate in direction 231 around biasing plate pivot axis 230 causes the other edge of the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as edge E1 (not shown in FIG. 4, see FIG. 3) of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151, to be pressed into groove 209 (not shown in FIG. 4, see FIG. 3) and be in physical contact with weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207 (not shown in FIG. 4, see FIG. 3), thus, in theory, firmly securing prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 in place on top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 and weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100 (FIG. 4).
FIG. 5 shows a cross-section of an exemplary rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbar 507, such as any of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 107 in FIG. 1. As seen in FIG. 1, rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbar 507 is of a general “T” shape with tapered, or chamfered, surfaces 509 forming edges E1 and E2. As seen in FIG. 5, and in FIG. 1, and as discussed above, the width “W” of rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbar (507 in FIG. 5) between edges E1 and E2 is specified by the Picatinny rail standard to be 0.835 inches with a tolerance of 0.005 inches. As a result, the total maximum variance between the width “W” of rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars for any two rail body weapon accessory mounting surfaces of any two Picatinny rail weapon accessory mounting systems is 0.005 inches. Also shown in FIG. 5 are various exemplary dimensions associated with one exemplary embodiment.
Returning to FIG. 3, as noted above, in many embodiments biasing plate 229 is typically free to pivot up to 180 degrees around biasing plate pivot axis 230 (FIG. 3) in either the direction shown by arrow 231 or the direction shown by arrow 233 in FIG. 3. However, biasing plate 229 typically remains in a fixed parallel position with respect to weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205, i.e., biasing plate 229 does not move in either direction 243 or 241 but rather only pivots on biasing plate pivot axis 230. Consequently, if prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200, and a weapons accessory (not shown) that is attached to prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200, is to be mounted on a given weapon accessory mounting system rail body, such as weapon accessory mounting system rail body 100, then the perpendicular distance “P” (FIG. 3) between weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205 and weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207 must be kept very close to the width “W” of the rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars (507 in FIG. 5 and 107 in FIG. 1) between edges E1 and E2. In other words, since biasing plate 229 does not move in either direction 243 or 241 the ability of prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to accommodate more than even the slightest variance in width “W” of a the rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars (507 in FIG. 5 and 107 in FIG. 1) between edges E1 and E2 is very limited. However, as noted above, a tolerance of 0.005 inches in width “W” is specified by the Picatinny rail standard and, as a result, the total maximum variance between the width “W” of rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars for any two rail weapon accessory mounting surfaces of any two Picatinny rail weapon accessory mounting systems is 0.005 inches.
In addition, returning to FIG. 3, as noted above, in many embodiments biasing plate 229 is typically free to pivot up to 180 degrees around biasing plate pivot axis 230 (FIG. 3) in either the direction shown by arrow 231 or the direction shown by arrow 233 in FIG. 3. However, there is no return force causing biasing plate 229 to fully open automatically. Consequently, biasing plate 229 is often not in the fully open position. As a result, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 often can not be attached a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151, by bringing the prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 straight down onto the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface along an axis perpendicular to the rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, as would be intuitively done. Instead, accessory mount adaptor 200 is typically attached to a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151, by first engaging a first edge of the desired rail body of the weapon accessory mounting system, such as edge E1 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151, with groove 209 of weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207 at an angle or “tilted” and then “rolling and snapping” weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205, and biasing plate 229 onto a second, opposite, edge of the rail body of the weapon accessory mounting system, such as edge E2 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151.
In addition, while performing this “tilt, roll, and snap” attachment procedure, the user must be careful to ensure that weapon accessory mount adaptor crossbar 250 is aligned and positioned in a recoil channel between consecutive rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars of the rail body of the weapon accessory mounting system, such as in recoil channel “G” of two consecutive rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars 107 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151. This procedure is referred to herein as an “align, tilt, roll, and snap” attachment method.
The “align, tilt, roll, and snap” method for attaching prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151, is relatively difficult and awkward, even under the best, and most relaxed, conditions. However, when in the field, or worse yet, under fire, attaching prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to a weapon accessory mounting system using the “align, tilt, roll, and snap” becomes unacceptably difficult, time consuming, error prone, and potentially life threatening.
In addition, the “align, tilt, roll, and snap” method for attaching prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151 makes it difficult for the user to determine when, and if, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 is properly aligned and/or engaged. Consequently, users often attempt to engage cam lever 213 and lock cam 217 before prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 is properly seated.
In addition, the “align, tilt, roll, and snap” method for attaching prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface, such as top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151, often results in uneven stresses on: the edge of the desired rail body of the weapon accessory mounting system, such as edge E1 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151; the inner surface of groove 209 of weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 207; weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205, and biasing plate 229; and the second, opposite, edge of the rail body of the weapon accessory mounting system, such as edge E2 of top rail weapon accessory mounting surface 151. These uneven stresses not only produce increased wear and tear on the weapon accessory mounting systems, and the associated weapons accessories, but they also cause misalignment of the weapons accessories with the desired weapon and/or barrel axis. In the case of, for instance, LASER pointing and target illumination systems, iron sighting system, or optical sighting systems, this misalignment can greatly reduce the capabilities of the weapon and, in some cases, make the weapon useless for its intended purpose and/or the mission.
In addition, since prior art weapon accessory mount adaptors 200 (FIG. 2) and 400 FIGS. 4A to 4C) rely solely on a single cam surface of cams 217 and 417, respectively, such as cam surface 218 in FIG. 3 and cam surface 410 of FIGS. 4A to 4C, to apply the required bias/force the single cam surface 218 in FIG. 3 and cam surface 410 of FIGS. 4A to 4C still applies a biasing pressure abruptly and unevenly distributed. In many instances this unevenly distributed force pulls weapon accessory mount fixed adaptor side rail 205 down so that the entire prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 is tilted down on the mount fixed adaptor side rail 205 side. This again creates uneven stresses on the weapon accessory mounting system and an uneven sight picture.
In addition, the limited ability of prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to accommodate variance in the width “W” of a the rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars (507 in FIG. 5 and 107 in FIG. 1) between edges E1 and E2 means that even when the awkward, and often difficult, “align, tilt, roll, and snap” method for attaching prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to a rail body weapon accessory mounting surface is performed correctly, proper attachment will occur only if the width “W” is within very tight tolerances of an established specification and any deviance outside these tight tolerances will mean that prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 cannot be properly attached, or detached, at all, by any method.
This is particularly problematic given that weapon accessory mounting rails are often mass produced, and/or provided by after-market suppliers, and therefore often have significant variations in all dimensions, including the width “W”. In addition, as noted above, even if the Picatinny rail standard is diligently applied by the manufacturer, a tolerance of plus or minus 0.005 inches in width “W” is still acceptable so that two examples of weapon accessory mounting rails produced, even by the most careful adherence to the Picatinny rail standard, can still have a total maximum variance between the width “W” of 0.005 inches. This is not a particularly insignificant variance, and this is before being subjected to any wear and tear in the field.
In addition, as field weapons systems, many weapon accessory mounting systems are subjected to significant wear and tear in the field and this wear and tear often results in damage and/or variations in dimensions of the weapon accessory mounting rails, including the width “W”.
Feedback from users in the field indicates that the limited ability of prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 to accommodate variance in the width “W” of a the rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars (507 in FIG. 5 and 107 in FIG. 1) between edges E1 and E2 is a very real and significant problem. For instance, if the width “W” of the rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars (507 in FIG. 5 and 107 in FIG. 1) between edges E1 and E2 is too wide, either due to manufacturing variations or to minor field damage, then cam lever 213 (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) cannot be fully closed, or “locked”. This is even more problematic given that many prior art cams and cam levers rely on an “over center” position or “locked” position as discussed above with respect to FIG. 4C.
As a result, cam lever 213 can catch on objects in the field and be flipped open, or simply work lose. This, in turn, means prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 can potentially come loose, thereby ruining any alignment of the attached weapon accessory with the weapon, which can be critical, and/or allowing the attached weapon accessory to fall off. Not only does this potentially deprive a solider or law enforcement officer in the field of the desired weapon accessory capability, potentially at the time it is needed most, but it can also result in an opponent/enemy detecting the presence of the solider or law enforcement officer when the weapon accessory drops off and is found. In addition, if the width “W” is too wide, yet cam lever 213 is somehow forced fully closed, over center, or “locked” position, it may then be impossible to remove and/or exchange the weapon accessory in the field, thereby negating the field flexibility that motivated the use of the weapon accessory mounting system in the first place.
On the other hand, if the width “W” of the rail weapon accessory mounting surface crossbars (507 in FIG. 5 and 107 in FIG. 1) between edges E1 and E2 is too narrow, either due to manufacturing variations or to minor field damage, then cam lever 213 can be fully closed, and therefore the user may think the weapon accessory is securely attached, but in reality, the weapon accessory mount adaptor, and the weapon accessory, will not be properly secured to the weapon. As a result, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200 is often loose at the time of attachment, thereby immediately ruining any alignment of the attached weapon accessory with the weapon, and/or allowing the attached weapon accessory to fall off.
Another problem associated with currently available weapon accessory mount adaptors, such as prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200, is that there is typically only one weapon accessory mount adaptor crossbar 250 (FIG. 3). Consequently, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptor 200, and the attached weapon accessory, is often free to “piston” back and forth within the single recoil channel “G” containing the single weapon accessory mount adaptor crossbar 250 during shot recoil. In addition, when there is typically only one weapon accessory mount adaptor crossbar 250 (FIG. 3) the attached weapon accessory, is often free to pivot at least the distance allowed by the specification tolerances. This is particularly problematic when biasing plates are used, such as in FIG. 2, as opposed to floating rails, such as in FIGS. 4A to 4C.
Some more recent weapon accessory mounting system, such as weapon accessory mount adaptor 400 of FIGS. 4A to 4C, include a weapon accessory mount adaptor that has a biasing element that can move limited distances with respect to the opposing weapon accessory mount adaptor side rail, i.e., can move in either direction 243 or 241 in FIG. 3 or in direction 416 in FIGS. 4A to 4C. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,813 issued to Squire et. al. on Aug. 19, 2003, herein the '813 patent, appears to include a biasing element that can move limited distances in a direction parallel with respect to the opposing weapon accessory mount adaptor side rail. However, these prior art weapon accessory mount adaptors including parallel biasing plate movement, such as discussed in the '813 patent, still include biasing and returning force elements that are structures separate from the side rail, and/or are not in operable contact with the floating side rail, such as Bellville washer spring system 420 in FIGS. 4A to 4C. In addition, Bellville washer spring system 420 of FIGS. 4A to 4C is positioned on fixed side rail 409 and exerts its force indirectly on floating side-rail 407. Consequently, these prior art weapon accessory mount adaptors including parallel biasing plate movement still apply biasing pressure in a uneven manner, as opposed to a far more desirable evenly increasing pressure, and therefore create uneven stresses, which as discussed above, not only produce increased wear and tear on the weapon accessory mounting systems, and the associated weapons accessories, but they also cause misalignment of the weapons accessories with the desired weapon and/or barrel axis.
In addition, as discussed in more detail below, in the prior art, cam 217 (FIG. 2) and cam 417 (FIG. 4A) are typically designed to be operated via cam lever 213 (FIG. 2) and cam lever 417 (FIG. 4A) such that when cam 217 (FIG. 2) and cam 417 (FIG. 4A) is in a “fully-locked position”, cam lever 213 (FIG. 2) and cam lever 417 (FIG. 4A) is rotated to a “past center position” or “over center position”.
FIGS. 4A to 4C show one example of a generic exemplary cam 417 of a second type of weapon accessory mount adaptor 400 being rotated into an “over center position” fully locked condition (see FIG. 4C).
As seen in FIG. 4A, initially cam 417 is in the “open” position such cam lever axis 414 is more or less perpendicular to a line 406 that runs parallel to length FL of floating side-rail 407 and open point “O” of contact surface 410 of cam 417 is in contact with floating side-rail 407.
FIG. 4B shows cam 417 after having been rotated in direction 412 by cam lever 413 to a “center” position such that cam lever axis 414 is more or less parallel to line 406 that runs parallel to length FL of floating side-rail 407 and center point “C” of contact surface 410 of cam 417 is in contact with floating side-rail 407. In this specific illustrative example, the rotation of cam lever 413 and cam 417 to the center position causes floating side-rail 407 to move in a direction 416 towards fixed side rail 409 along column 418 and under a force created by Bellville washer spring system 420. It is worth noting that Bellville washer spring system 420 is positioned on fixed side rail 409 and exerts its force indirectly on floating side-rail 407. In this specific illustrative example, after cam 417 has been rotated in direction 412 by cam lever 413 to the center position, Bellville washer spring system 420 is compressed such that distance 422 is about 0.012 inches.
FIG. 4C shows cam 417 after having been rotated further in direction 412 by cam lever 413 to a “locked” position such that cam lever axis 414 is at an angle 434 to line 406 that runs parallel to length FL of floating side-rail 407 and locked point “L” of contact surface 410 of cam 417 is in contact with floating side-rail 407 such that cam 417 is in an “over center position”. In this specific illustrative example, the rotation of cam lever 413 and cam 417 to the over center and fully locked position causes floating side-rail 407 to lock into the closed position and Bellville washer spring system 420 to be relieved from fully compressed such that distance 422 is relieved from the 0.012 inches of FIG. 4B by 0.002 to 0.004 inches in FIG. 4C.
While the rotation of cam 417 by cam lever 413 to an over center “locked position” serves to secure the cam lever and lock floating side-rail 407 in the closed position, the rotation to the over center position actually relives some of the pressure securing floating side-rail 407 and requires considerable force and can make it quite difficult to rotate cam lever 413 and cam 417 back to the open position of FIG. 4A. Consequently, the use of, and need for, an over center locked position for cam 417 is not ideal.
Due, in large part, to the shortcomings of the prior art weapon accessory mount adaptors discussed above, weapons users, including soldiers and law enforcement officers in the field, are currently employing weapon accessory mounting systems that are too difficult to use, and have very little tolerance for dimensional variation and combat damage. Therefore, prior art weapon accessory mount adaptors are not providing weapons accessory capability that is as versatile and combat effective as would be desired.